Back in 2014 I was sitting on a Hilltop overlooking my small southern town. Yes, it was idyllic, but the Lehmen bros collapse killed it's industry and student loans would be a knockin' soon after I graduated college…
I asked my French Professor what to do at the time and he said I should travel to a far off land, teach ESL for a few years, and wait for all this to blow over.
“You know, what ~ I'll do just that. I'll come back to teach like I originally wanted, but only after the markets return to 90's levels of living.”
I was 24 at the time, innocent. Naive, too. But hopeful. Now I'm on a another hilltop over looking another idyllic, Asian town. F.E.I.E in one hand, and a $300 medical bill in the other.
F.E.I.E is used to stave off my student debt, coupled with my IDR plan, indefinitely without defaulting. My credit score remains average but not great.
The $300 bill was for the major surgery I had last week. Im diagnosed with Crohns disease. But in this country my bills and meds are subsidized; so im human enough to work and contribute to my pension plan. Hours are long, a bit Office Space like too. But the house is free and the work is fair…
But Im far too gone now. How can I justify the rising costs of living with an exhaustive, potentially bedriddening medical condition and an equally exhausting loan? That's what's waiting for me if or when I go back…I read this sub and…They're adding 14yr olds in Fast Food now?
It just all feels so optionless.